Eldridge December 2017

We Create Beautiful Smiles!
Bleaching
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GARDENING TIPS FOR DECEMBER
• If a long flowering period is desired, pansies should be placed
in their permanent beds not later than this month. Fertilize
monthly with manure, super-phosphate or a liquid high-phosphate
product. Keep flowers picked for more bloom.
• Take tulips out of cold storage and plant late this month.
• Fertilize established trees, spring-blooming shrubs, spurias
and sweet peas (after they are a foot tall) with a fertilizer
such as 13-13-13;
Louisiana iris with cotton seed meal and manure.
• Azaleas and camellias may be moved now. Keep moist
to lesson cold weather damage. May acidify again.
• Last month to plant early blossoming spring bulbs,
speciosum and other varieties of lilies. Mulch.
• Water plants well before a freeze; dry roots are easily
damaged.
• Don’t forget to provide food and fresh water for birds.
More birds die from lack of water than lack of food.
WILDLIFE - THEY’RE EVERYWHERE
By Cheryl Conley, TWRC Wildlife Center
Love them or hate them, they’re everywhere! I’m talking about
those funny little critters called squirrels. As the fall baby season
is coming to an end, TWRC Wildlife Center has been inundated
with babies. What is normally a very busy time anyway, Hurricane
Harvey only added to the numbers. Hundreds of orphans
were admitted and will continue to be cared for until they are
ready for release.
The Houston area is home to the gray squirrel, the fox squirrel
and the flying squirrel. About 90% of the squirrels in our area
are gray squirrels. Most people have never seen a flying squirrel
because they are nocturnal. They are very small and their tail
acts as a rudder to help guide it in flight. They don’t have wings
but rather skin that forms “flaps” that stretch between the
“ankle” and “wrist.” If you’ve ever seen a squirrel eating out of a
“squirrel-proof” bird feeder, then you know how intelligent they
are. They have also been known to pretend to bury food just to
trick other animals. A 2010 study showed that when a squirrel
is being watched, they will actually dig a hole, pat it with their
front teeth and scrape dirt over it to make it look like they are
burying a treasure when, in fact, they are hiding their stash in a
pocket near their armpit.
Here are some things you probably don’t know about squirrels:
• A squirrel’s front teeth never stop growing. In the wild,
squirrels are constantly gnawing which keeps them short.
Community Newsletter | December 2017
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